In a network 30 as illustrated in FIG. 1 which includes a parent wireless communication device (hereinafter, referred to as a “control device”) and a plurality of child wireless communication devices (hereinafter, referred to as “communication terminal devices”), it is necessary to perform implementation registration for registering the communication terminal devices 10a, 10b, . . . , 10n into the control device 20 before first using them.
As illustrated in FIG. 2, in order to register the communication terminal device 10 into the control device 20, the implementation registration (hereinafter, referred to also simply as “registration”) includes: scanning (Step S10) performed by the communication terminal device 10 to search for the control device 20; association (Step S20) performed by the communication terminal device 10 to request the searched-out control device 20 to register the communication terminal device 10; and authentication (Step S30) performed by the control device 20 to authenticate the communication terminal device 10.
In the scanning, it is necessary for the communication terminal device to search a plurality of control devices including control devices in nearby networks in neighbors and the like for a desired control device to be connected (a home control device).
Therefore, for example, according to Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.15.4, the communication terminal device broadcast-transmits (simultaneously transmits) a beacon request (referred to also as a “beacon request”) to a plurality of control devices, and each control device which has received the beacon request transmits a beacon (referred to also as a “beacon signal”) back to the communication terminal device. The communication terminal device receives such beacons from the control devices, and stores the beacons in a receiving buffer.
Subsequently, in the association (Step S20 in FIG. 2), the communication terminal device transmits a registration request (for example, association request) to a desired control device among the control devices which have transmitted the beacons. When the registration request is received from the communication terminal device, the control device determines whether or not to be connected to the communication terminal device, and transmits back to the communication terminal device a registration response (association response) added with information indicating connection permission or connection rejection.
If the registration response indicates connection permission and the association thereby has been completed, then, the authentication processing (Step S30 in FIG. 2) such as authentication of key information is performed between the control device and the communication terminal device, thereby completing the implementation registration.
On the other hand, if the registration response indicates connection rejection, the communication terminal device determines that the control device is not the desired control device and transmits a connection request sequentially to the other control devices which have transmitted the remaining beacons stored in the receiving buffer.
There is disclosed a technique by which, in a network as described above, only the desired control device (home control device) transmits a beacon twice in response to a beacon request of the communication terminal device, and the communication terminal device determines the control device as the home control device when receiving the second beacon (for example, see Patent Literature (PTL) 1).
Furthermore, there is disclosed another technique by which the control device transmits a beacon added with option information such as “connection permission or rejection”, and the communication terminal device determines the control device as the home control device by analyzing the beacon (for example, see Patent Literature (PTL) 2).